Indian-born Nadella, Gundotra in race to be new Microsoft CEO

The Hyderabad-born 44-year-old Satya Nadella, currently heading Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, is listed among likely successors to the information technology giant's CEO Steve Ballmer, who is set to retire within a year.

As executive vice president, Nadella "runs a group that continues to churn out growth and profits", noted Seattle Times in a story on the start of a guessing game among Microsoft watchers since Ballmer's impending departure was announced.

"There is no single clear successor to a lightning rod of a leader who remains one of the most identifiable CEOs in the country," it said.

"What's more, the next CEO may well have a far different job than the one Ballmer is vacating", the Times said as "Once the dominant force in technology, Microsoft now finds itself chasing companies in key businesses such as Google in Web search and Apple in mobile devices."